1. Field
The present invention generally relates to garment and clothes hangers for storing clothing items in a wrinkle-free manner, and more particularly to such garment and clothes hangers that are extendible to fit clothing items of different sizes having different shoulder widths.
2. State of the Art
Coat hangers or garment hangers (hereinafter both referred to as garment hangers) are used in a variety of applications to maintain clothing articles in a non-wrinkled condition during storage and transport. Garment hangers facilitate the storage of clothing within wardrobes and to display clothing in retail shops. Garment hangers are available in a variety of constructions and sizes depending on the type and size of the clothing article.
Clothing articles obviously have different dimensions to fit to the size of the wearer according to age and physical build. Shirts, jackets, sweaters, coats, blouses, and some dresses all have seams that connect the sleeves to the torso section of the clothing article. A garment hanger that incorrectly fits the shoulder width of the clothing article ends either on the shoulders or on the sleeves of the clothing article leaving unsightly wrinkles or stretch deformities. A garment hanger that properly fits to the and support the shoulder with terminates at the seam (a reinforced portion of the garment) thereby preventing any wrinkles or stretch deformities.
Although fixed length hangers may properly fit the shoulder size of some clothing articles, very few clothing items even of the same size have seams in the same place. It is therefore desirable to have garment hangers that are adjustable to fit the various shoulder sizes.
Various garment hangers have been patented that attempt to solve the problem of fitting clothing items of different sizes. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,599 issued to Platti on Oct. 1, 1991 an adjustable garment hanger is disclosed. The hanger includes an upright hook and a pair of divergent shoulder bars interconnected by a crossbar. A pair of adjustable shoulder tubes each have an open bottom channel so as to snap-fit over respective of the shoulder bars. The shoulder tubes are frictionally positionable along the shoulder bars in a plurality of desired longitudinal positions. Shoulder width of the hanger is changeable by the extension or retraction of the shoulder tubes to accommodate a variety of garment sizes with various shoulder widths.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,538 issued to Autry, et al. on Apr. 20, 2004 is disclosed an adjustable clothes hanger that includes a swivelable, upright hook connected to a pair of divergent shoulder tubes, a cross-tube, and a pair of U-shaped end tubes that telescopically engage the shoulder and cross-tubes. A series of spring-loaded pushbuttons or snap fasteners engage a series of holes in the tubes to removably lock the end tubes in a plurality of desired longitudinal positions. The hanger allows hanging of larger sized shirts, blouses, jackets, coats, and the like without allowing shoulder sections of the garments to sag.
The prior art adjustable garment hangers have a multitude of serious shortcomings. Firstly, they tend not to be rigid and sturdy enough to hold heavier clothing articles such as sweaters. Secondly, they tend to be expensive to manufacture. Thirdly, they do not smoothly engage the clothing article and create wrinkles and deformities. Fourthly, they do not allow hanging up of additional clothing articles such a brasiers, ties, belts, pants, and the like. Fifthly, they do not retain the desired position to fit the shoulder width of the clothing article. There is a need for an improved adjustable garment hanger that solves the shortcomings in the prior art garment hangers.